Samajwadi Party Odisha president Rabi Behera has urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav during the latter’s visit here that land be allocated by his Government there for construction of guesthouses in the name of former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik for facilitating Odias visiting the State for pilgrimage.
Behera on Saturday told reporters here that many tourists from Odisha visit UP to take holy dip in the river Ganga. However, due to lack of guest houses by the Odisha Government for boarding and lodging facilities, the pilgrims face many difficulties. Yadav has agreed to the proposal and said his Government was ready to do everything for this if the Odisha Government makes a formal request. He also evinced interest to build guest houses in Odisha for UP pilgrims.
Besides, Behera demanded running of superfast trains between lucknow and Puri and a direct flight connecting lucknow-Kolkata-Bhubaneswar to ensure smooth flow of tourists between the two States. Yadav assured promised to write letters to the Railway Ministry and Civil Aviation Ministry in this regard.
Besides, Yadav assured of all possible help to the party for spreading its wing in the State and to again visit Odisha shortly, said Behera.